Sarah Cornelius Review - Final Draft

Album Review: 
Haley Bonar ‘Last War’ 

 Release Date: May 20, 2014

Label: Graveface

The Verdict:  4.5 / 5 Stars  


Haley Bonar has a back story that is the stuff of indie darling dreams. Born in Manitoba and raised in the Black Hills of South Dakota, she grew up surrounded by a creative family – her graduation present from her parents was to record and self- release her first album. From there, she left for college at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. However, college aspirations were quickly pushed aside when producer and artist Alan Sparhawk, of Duluth indie-rock royalty Low, spotted her at an open stage night. By the time she was 20 years old, Bonar was traveling cross country in her jam-packed Civic opening for the band and beginning her solo career in earnest.

In the decade that has passed since then, Bonar’s career has continued to live up to its early signs of potential. Her gritty, realistically poetic lyrics and folksy sound have garnered Bonar widespread acclaim. They have also linked her name closely with some staples of the Twin Cities mellow indie scene, like Mason Jennings and Andrew Bird. The association is rightfully deserved and embraced - Bonar's rotating band includes musicians from both of those groups, in addition to acts like Halloween Alaska, Tapes n' Tapes and Rogue Valley. But with Last War, her fifth studio release, Bonar builds upon the momentum of her previous albums and confidently breaks further out of her indie-folk mold.

Her last full-length release, 2011’s Golder, was received with generally positive reviews thanks to its fuller sound and more highly produced quality. With Last War Bonar explores that bigger, synthier style on another level, masking darkly poetic and hard hitting lyrics about relatable fears with an upbeat sound.

Last War cuts quickly to the chase; its nine songs take up only a little over 30 minutes. But within that time Bonar hardly makes a misstep.  The album opens with "Kill the Fun", a deceptively peppy ode to a relationship going nowhere. The song captures the recklessness of a passing, pointless romance that still elicits the desire to project: “I could be your baby, you could take good care of me/treat me like a lady, be each other's somebody”.

Such wry, self-critical and jauntily open lyrics continue through the rest of album. Last War’s second track, "No Sensitive Man", candidly lambasts the good guy every girl wants until she has him, and ends in a crescendo of wry frustration: “we can get away with anything these days”.

Last War’s third song, its title track, is the most arresting on the album. The song makes heavy use of synths over a driving, slightly sinister beat, while Bonar’s haunting voice lends a sense of drama that stands out from rest of album. The emotion behind the track is laid completely bare.

From there, the mood of the album rebounds with "Heaven’s Made for Two", a smooth and peppy story of running away, before slowing down again with "From a Cage". That track opens with the blunt question, “If I washed my clothes and I combed my hair/Would you look at me the same?” Bonar’s tone implies a negative answer, but through it she poignantly calls attention to the dual sense of freedom and restriction that come with relationships.

The seventh track, "Bad Reputation", is the album’s other standout, with Bonar painting a perfectly self-conscious picture of a flippant attitude. “I wish I could date my former self/ She’d be a fun girlfriend”, she sings, only several lines before declaring, “She probably needs medication”.

Last War closes with its most openly mournful song: a slow, soft and introspective ballad called "Eat for Free", which features on-point harmonies from Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. It may not be an uplifting note to end on, but the track provides fitting closure for Bonar’s more cynical, tongue-in-cheek lyrics throughout the rest of the album.

Only two of Last War’s tracks fail to make a significant impression: "Woke Up in My Future" and "Can’t Believe Our Luck". While neither detracts from the album, neither possesses the same gripping nature of the rest album, which begs to be listened to closely and repeatedly.

Overall, Bonar’s Last War is an impressive, cohesive work. Its length is ideal to hold the listener’s attention, and her lyrics ride the line between cryptic and relatable that makes them entirely easy to devour (and tempting to Google). Bonar’s own story of indie-rock stardom may be nearly too perfect, but it seems to have had a positive effect on her; she certainly knows how to tell a compelling story with a song.